


How to Train Your Callistana

by cresswells



Series: Lessons in Secret-Keeping [2]
Category: Bloodlines Series - Richelle Mead
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Parenthood, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-13
Updated: 2013-02-13
Packaged: 2017-11-29 04:31:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/682788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cresswells/pseuds/cresswells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Adrian and Hopper the baby dragon bond over their mutual love of pie and Sydney.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How to Train Your Callistana

Hopper was screeching again.

Adrian groaned as he rolled out of bed, one hand clutching his pounding head. The little monster had woken him like this three days in a row now. Did that damn thing _never_ stop eating?

"I'm up," he yelled – not that it stopped the racket. He heard the sound of tiny claws scraping at the bottom of his door. _There goes the security deposit._

He half wished that he could dump the tiny creature on Sydney for a few days, or at least get her to come over and turn it back into crystal, but with Zoe in Palm Springs now and shadowing Sydney 24-7, there was no way it could work. Remembering his last encounter with Zoe just made him feel worse. In so many ways, the kid was like a miniature Sage – the Sage he'd first met, haughty and proper and businesslike – but he also caught the way she stayed close to Sydney's side and could barely meet his eyes when she spoke to him. Sydney had never really been afraid of him like that, but it reminded him painfully of her old aversion to vampire magic.

Part of him wished Sydney's little sister would decide being in such close proximity to vampires on a daily basis was too stressful, and leave Palm Springs for good. He felt terrible about it.

Still with one hand pressed to his forehead, he flung open his bedroom door. The callistana abruptly stopped howling. _Weird_. It usually wouldn't shut up until he fed it.

"Wassermatter?" he asked sleepily. "Expecting someone else?"

The dragon blinked up at him noiselessly.

He sighed and scooped the little creature up with one hand. Since Sage's sister had arrived, life had been pretty lonely and he had to admit, he didn't mind the dragon's company. It was a pain in the ass sometimes, but at least talking to Hopper was better than talking to himself.

He staggered into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. He'd indulged himself slightly too much last night and was feeling the full effects of it now. Still, the alcohol numbed the spirit and the unbearable longing he felt. Sydney had come to visit him yesterday afternoon with the admittedly lame excuse that she was filing a new report on the spirit experiments and needed an update. He'd given her a few bullshit responses to her bullshit questions and then they'd stared at each other for a while, while her sister hovered in the doorway, as far away from him as possible. Later, they'd exchanged a few texts, but by that time Adrian was too far gone to muster up the spirit to dreamwalk and although it was the only way for them to really be together now, Sydney worried about him using spirit to visit her dreams.

Adrian checked the time on his phone as he helped himself to a breakfast of leftover pie. 12:45pm. Great. At least his prolonged unconsciousness meant that Jill probably hadn't suffered the effects of his hangover.

As he sat down on the overstuffed plaid couch Sydney had more than once wrinkled her nose up at, Hopper crawled onto his foot. He groaned and lifted the callistana, placing it on his plate with the half-eaten pie. Within minutes, the plate was licked clean. Hopper turned his big round eyes to Adrian, making a small gurgling noise.

"No," Adrian said sternly. "No more until dinnertime."

To his relief, the dragon didn't start wailing again. Instead, it scuttled along the edge of the plate and over his forearm. It sniffed him once and then lay down. Adrian sat very still, waiting for the inevitable noise, but it didn't come.

"Good Hopper," he said, surprised. He reached out and stroked one finger lightly over the callistana's back.

The little dragon made a squeaking sound, gazing up at him with big beady eyes. _Great_. What did it want _now_?

Hopper nudged his hand again. He tentatively stroked the dragon once more. Hopper closed his eyes and lay his tiny glass head on Adrian's arm.

_Well._ That was new. He hadn't thought the callistana particularly liked _him_ – it just felt some weird magical attachment to him. But it had stopped wailing as soon as he'd opened the door. And, he remembered with a jolt, it had sat curled up beside him all last night as Adrian had drunk himself into an early stupor.

Maybe it was only a magical bond keeping the little demon loyal to him, but Adrian knew enough about magic to know that compulsion was always stronger when the subject _wanted_ to obey.

He gently stroked the callistana's glass scales, surprised to find them warm to the touch. He wasn't sure how long he sat there for, when a loud ringing jerked him out of his thoughts.

"Sage," he said immediately when he answered it.

"Hello, Mr. Ivashkov," Sydney said. Her voice was warm but her cool words warned that her sister was nearby. "I just wanted to let you know that we'll be taking the princess to her feeder at around 4 o'clock today, if you wish to join us."

"Of course," he said, clutching the phone close to his ear. "I'll be there, Sage." He paused, before adding, quieter, " _I love you. Just in case I don't get the chance to tell you tonight, I love you_."

"I do too," Sydney said, and her cool, professional demeanour cracked slightly over the words. He heard her take a slow, deep breath and by the time she spoke again, her voice was sharp and unfeeling. "Very well, Mr. Ivashkov. We'll see you there in a few hours."

The line went dead before Adrian could say goodbye.

_I do too._ Just a few weeks ago, those words would have made his heart soar. Now they just made the distance between them worse.

Hopper pressed his claws harmlessly into Adrian's skin and whined quietly.

"I know, buddy," Adrian said as the callistana curled up, tucking its head into the crook of his elbow. He leaned back and stared at his phone, the pit of longing in his gut worse than ever. "I miss her too."


End file.
